TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Echoes of novels past haunt 'River'

ADVERTISEMENT

By KATHY L. GREENBERG

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2009

"Last Night in Twisted River," by John Irving (Random House, $28)
John Irving revisits old themes in his latest novel: death, absent parents, unspeakable tragedy, budding sexuality in an adolescent boy, a young writer with promise.

We've seen it in his other novels, and usually his complex storylines and well-developed characters make the repetition work. This time, however, Irving fans will be disappointed to find 550 pages of tedious echoes from books past.

The novel begins in 1954 New Hampshire with a dead child. Angel Pope lived in the logging settlement at Twisted River and drowned in the river that woodsmen used to move timber. The boy's death fascinates 12-year-old Danny Baciagalupo, mostly because it parallels his own mother's untimely end.

Danny's father, Dominic, is the camp cook. The widower finds solace in the arms of Injun Jane, a Native American with long, thick, black hair. One night, Danny mistakes Jane for a bear attacking his father and kills her with a cast-iron skillet. It's an accident, but Danny and Dominic run anyway, all the way to Boston.

Fast forward a few decades and Danny has become a famous writer with a meaningful nom de plume - Danny Angel. He's a single father.

So Danny writes, and the reader learns about Danny's/Irving's writing process. Time passes, and Danny keeps writing as Dominic makes his famous pizza. The past haunts them both, but it's OK because Danny writes about it.

It's as if Irving's imagination stopped at the edge of his computer screen. For inspiration, he had only to glance at his bookshelf and pick a title - "The Hotel New Hampshire," "The World According to Garp," "The Cider House Rules," "A Widow for One Year." And then maybe he looked out his window at a tree. Unless you're a beaver, though, novels about lumber are about as interesting as a sock floating down the Thames.

The best parts are Irving's descriptions of the food Dominic prepares. These passages are mouth-watering and will leave the reader wishing the author had devoted his book to the culinary arts instead of kindling.

This kind of work is expected from prolific, mass-market writers who churn out books every year, but not from someone of Irving's literary caliber. He's too good for that, which makes this effort all the more frustrating for Irving devotees. Meanwhile, readers new to the author will be underwhelmed, wondering what all the fuss was about Garp.

Kathy L. Greenberg is a freelance writer in Tampa.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT